Traffic Flow On The Global Network That Moves For You

Nearly everyone now knows that the WWW (World Wide Web) means the Internet. Everyone also recognizes that you can access websites throughout the U.S. and around the world.
What everyone doesn~t commonly know is how the Internet operates. Most people just want quick access to information without understanding how the information flows. This flow is affected by traffic. Basically, when more people are trying to get to the same location at the same time, this traffic is slower. Similarly, less traffic means a smoother and faster travel time. Not surprisingly then, peak rush hour slows this flow and the increased volume of highway users can create an accident or even bring the traffic to a complete halt.

Applying this principle to the Internet helps you understand how traffic flows around the WWW affect your travel speed.
Heavy traffic will slow down the system~s response. Also, heavy traffic will cause delays along the path to your web site destination. Naturally, equipment malfunctions along your travel route will slow your website uptake and maybe even send you along an alternative path toward your final destination. Granted, these slower uptakes or detours may be only short intervals of time ~ a fraction of a second.
However, when you add up these short periods of time over great distances, you are looking at costly delays, especially in the business world that depends on the Internet for a big part of their revenue.

Internet service providers and businesses that are dependent on the speed of the Internet keep a watchful eye on the traffic conditions and current speed of the Internet.
One place where anyone can view the latest trends in Internet speed and reliability as they are occurring in real-time is at the Internet site http://internettrafficreport.com. The information available on the site is updated every five minutes.

What do traffic reports tell you about global Internet traffic? At Internet Traffic Report~s website, you see tracking of speed trends in Europe, Asia, Australia, North America and South America. The continent of Africa does not currently have enough routers to accurately track a message as it~s sent from the sender to the receiver. Therefore, calculating a meaningful traffic value in Africa is not possible. The traffic index used in each continent goes from the number 0 (meaning the slowest) to 100 (meaning the fastest). At this site, you also can find the average response time in fractions of a second for test messages that are routinely sent out into the Internet. If your American Internet speed is frustrating you, take yourself to this site and look up the response time in North America.
You~re frustrations will go down when you see that North America~s response time is on average twice as fast as South America, Europe and Australia~s. What~s more, North America~s fast time is three times quicker than Asia~s.

A quick trip to this site will reinforce the fact that the World Wide Web is succeeding in its mission to unify the world and link people to each other across all the continents. For the developed nations of the world, this service is quick and reliable.

Copyright 2005 . All rights reserved.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Riki Trafford is the owner of
Direct MO Marketing which offers low cost keyword-targetted web traffic.
For comments and questions visit his archive of articles:
http://www.1dmom.com/archive/

Riki Trafford



How To Increase Your Business's Revenue Stream Online

Are you thinking about expanding your business by adding online revenue streams? Maybe, you're thinking about creating a new online business? If this is the case, many "gurus" are awaiting the opportunity to share the intricacies of their wisdom with you for a very high fee.
While some are good... you'd better know precisely what type of assistance you're seeking or you'll see your fees eaten up long before you even get close to accumulating any return on your investment.

Put simply, building an on-line revenue stream requires skills in 2 areas:
1. Bringing the right kind of visitors to your web site 2. Persuading them to take the action you want

Let's play out one example whereby:
- Your product sells at $100.
- Your website attracts 1000 visitors monthly.
- 1% of these visitors purchase your product.

Next, your short-term revenue is derived from the following
formula:
(No. of visitors) x Product Price x (Percent of Buying
Visitors)
Or, 1000 x $100 x .01 = $1000 per month

So to grow your revenue, for a given product price, you can
- increase the traffic to your site
- increase the % of visitors who buy (your conversion ratio)
- or both

But traffic and conversion ratio are not independent factors. The type and source of your web site visitors can, and will hugely impact your conversion rate.

So what options do we have when it comes to getting visitors to come to my web site? There are probably only a few key
stratgies:

1. Traffic for Purchase.
Go ahead and buy traffic from options like banner ads, Pay-Per-Click (PPC), or off-line advertising to quickly bring visitors your way. Warning: these options may be complicated, and costly. And difficult to control. Many inexperienced PPC buyers lose out making avoidable common mistakes.

2. Develop traffic.
That entails optimizing your website so it rises to the highest position in results from a search engine. Although this can be very effective and result in lots of "free"
traffic, constructing traffic requires experience, time and constant effort by management to achieve and hold an enviable place on the first page. Additionally, your hard work can be quickly upset by competition or by a search engine's policy change. If you don't already have this experience, you must climb a steep learning curve or pay an SEO consultant to perform this for you. Kind of blows away the truth behind "free" traffic!

3. Dig up traffic.
By this, I'm referring to digging up existing customer lists of yours and directing them toward your new online offer.
This approach is excellent, especially if you already have an accessible list of customers that are prime for the new plan. However, what if you don't?

4. Use Public Relations to bring Traffic Another approach is to create opportunities to promote your offer on radio, TV, magazines, or newspapers. Press releases, articles, or "advertorials" can include your website address for people looking for more information on your topic. If you're smart, and have good media contacts, this can be highly effective.

5. Use "OPT", Other People's Traffic.
Literally, thousands of online magazines and newsletters have editors who are hungry for relevant, excellent content.
These sources have circulation lists with thousands of subscribers. You should be able to find several sources related to your topic. Should they publish your article or your advert, along with a personal endorsement, to their circulation list, you can anticipate a deluge of visitors.
This wave may recede soon unless you repeat the same action to another list or submit another article for publication to that first source.

Naturally, you can't expect to do everything at the same time! What start-up sequence should you follow? The following order will put you on track:

1. Conduct a quick market test by purchasing traffic from a keyword-targeted resource and then test the viability of your ad copy, your offer and your niche.
(Obv

Article:

A PPC Campaign Is A Click Away

For some website owners, the road to riches is as simple as using a pay-per-click campaign. But, truth be known, this path isn't as clear cut as you might think since not all pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns are wisely planned. While setting up a PPC ad in a search engine isn't very difficult to perform, the strategic planning prior to set up is what makes the response rate reach full speed. Can the average website owner carry out this planning on his own? Sure, if he's quite lucky. But, do you really want to leave your PPC campaign's success to luck?

Most of the big search engines have great PPC services.
For example, Google Adwords and Yahoo Search Marketing Solution (previously known as Overture), go through the mechanics of how to advertise and submit for review or activation. With Google Adwords, your PPC campaign can be up and running in a matter of minutes! Yahoo takes a little longer because of their human review process. However, this doesn't mean your campaign will be visible to searchers.
Your ad may not climb positions until way down the road.

The fastest way for your PPC campaign to pull into a good position is to follow some basic tips:

- Find your target customers' likes and dislikes so you have insight on how they search online and how they react to certain keywords and phrases.

- Pick keywords with strongest appeal and track them using a system like Yahoo Search Marketing Solution and Google Adword. Avoid jamming your PPC ad with every keyword under the sun.

- Did you split- test your keywords? Granted, space inside a PPC ad is limited. So why not use your space wisely by continually testing which words and phrases actually get the best results? Perform research by testing out your keywords in the Search Engine of your choice and monitoring the results.

- Don't mistake traffic with performance. You may attract heavy traffic to your site through a PPC but you might not get desired performance. Are you clear on the action you want? Performance is when your visitors take the action you are seeking. You need to strive for performance as well as traffic. With better performance than your competitors, you can afford to buy higher PPC ad positions.
You'll get more visitors, and they are more likely to take action.

- Choose different "landing pages" for clicks on different keywords or phrases. Studies show visitors that land on a page that is most relevant to the visitor are more likely to be called to action. Pick a landing page that will be most attractive to the population that clicks on certain keywords.

A great return on your investment (ROI) is the goal of a PPC campaign. When it comes to creating a great PPC campaign, learning to set up a PPC ad is only one part of the picture; the other part is incorporating strategic planning. To discover simpler and more successful ways to carry out a winning PPC campaign, go to www.1dmom.com/archive.

Copyright 2005 Riki Trafford. All rights reserved.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Riki Trafford is the webmaster of
Direct MO Marketing which offers low cost keyword-targetted web traffic.
For more information visit his web site:
http://www.1dmom.com/

Snap, Crackle, Click!

If pay-per-click campaigns were as simple as a click away,
then every website owner could make easy money just by
linking an ad to his site. However, a successful
pay-per-click (PPC) campaign isn't so basic. Granted,
carrying out the steps to participate in PPC programs
offered by many search engines aren't hard to figure out;
it's the strategy behind making these PPCs work on your
website that makes the response rate for PPCs reach their
highest potential. Is the average website owner capable of
carrying out a well planned campaign on his own? Maybe, if
he's lucky. But, does luck really make for a great
campaign?

Comprehensive PPC programs are offered by many big search
engines. These programs include Google Adword and Yahoo
Search Marketing Solution (previously called Overture).
These programs take you through the stages of creating an
ad, submitting it for approval, and activating on the search
engine. Google Adword can approve your ad in a matter of
minutes and run it on the search engine. Yahoo, however,
must be reviewed by an actual person so it takes a little
longer to gain approval. Once launched, your campaign must
climb up in position before every searcher sees it.

The fastest way for your PPC campaign to pull into a good
position is to follow some basic tips:

- Find your target customers' likes and dislikes so you
have insight on how they search online and how they react to
certain keywords and phrases.

- Do you track your keywords? Even if your PPC is tight
with keywords, each keyword will only attract a percentage
of visitors. Attract new customers by tracking which
keywords appeal to them most strongly. Tracking systems
like in Google Adwords and Yahoo Search Marketing Solution
do the trick.

- Did you split- test your keywords? Granted, space inside
a PPC ad is limited. So why not use your space wisely by
continually testing which words and phrases actually get the
best results? Perform research by testing out your keywords
in the Search Engine of your choice and monitoring
the results.

- Performance and traffic are not the same. You can
attract heavy traffic but still have poor performance.
Motivate visitors to take action by clearly announcing the
action you desire your visitors to perform. As your
performance rises above your competitor's, this puts you at
the head of the line to purchase better PPC ad positions,
attracting even more visitors who are willing to take
action.

- Is your campaign linked to "landing pages"? A "landing
page" is where the visitor is directed upon clicking on a
keyword. Direct your visitors to a page in your site that
is most relevant to that keyword and to that population of
visitors who are most attracted to that keyword. Studies
show the more relevant the landing page to the visitor the
more likely the visitor is to respond to the call to action.

The best way to get a return on your investment (ROI) is to
implement a well thought out PPC campaign. Learning how to
set up a PPC ad is one thing; strategically planning a PPC
campaign that gets the best bang for your buck is another.
To learn about simpler and typically much more effective PPC
campaigns, visit www.1dmom.com/archive.

Copyright 2005 Riki Trafford. All rights reserved.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Riki Trafford is the webmaster of Direct MO
Marketing
which offers low cost keyword-targetted web traffic.
For comments and questions visit his web site:
http://www.1dmom.com

Google AdSense - Website Revenue Building Tool

The main hurdle blocking a person or business from going online is figuring out how to pay for the site. Many times the solution to this problem is including advertising on their website. Google AdSense is a service that helps Google AdSense advertisements find their way onto websites.
These ads pull in lots of traffic into the website host and the advertiser's location. However, the most profitable Google ads are placed only on the most relevant websites.

Over 150,000 Google Adword adverts are part of Google AdSense. Although these ads are placed in your website for free, website owners must qualify. Qualification depends on how best suited your site is for certain ads. Much like an agency picking the best magazines to place certain ads, AdSense picks your site and gives you a selection of ads to place in your website. The advantage of this system is you don't have to go out and convince advertisers to buy space
in your site. As long as Google AdSense has reviewed your
site and your happy with their selections, you can put these ads on any of your web pages for free. Instead, Google AdSense reviews your site and suggests relevant ads. You do have the option to turn down ads if the advertiser is a close competitor.

Okay, so how do you make the shoe fit? Only the sites that are scanned by AdSense and meet AdSense's criteria can offer these advertisements. Basically, Google wants to make sure your site has high quality "content" and is well constructed, without lots of "under construction" pages or broken links. How do know if your content is of their standards? Well, no one exactly knows what AdSense Mediabot is looking for since it tends to adjust its criteria from time to time. However, you can have a good idea by using lots of relevant keywords and phrases. You can also check out https://www.google.com/adsense/policies for its guidelines. Generally, a website with any "questionable"
material such as sexual content or profane language will be rejected. Also, pure directory sites are not qualified to display Google Adword adverts.

By increasing your content relevancy, you can qualify for the best revenue producing Adword adverts. This also creates a win-win scenario for your website whereby great content attracts more visitors, increases your position in the search engine results and motivates your visitors to click-through ads if you qualify for ads that highly relate to their needs. Since better content positions you as an expert on the material, visitors are also more likely to return. If you're not able to produce the content yourself, check out free content and paste it into your website. Some free content sources include AAGeneral.com or AABusiness.com. However, original content tends to get the best results. As soon as AdSense Mediabot approves your site, you can start pasting AdSense codes into your site.
These codes display different styles of ads and the ad.
Some styles that traditionally get the most click-throughs are "leader board" and "skyscraper". Many experts think this approach to content and advertising is hurting the integrity of web content and advertising. However, other experts claim this approach actually helps visitors truly get what they're searching for.

A site ends up building revenue whenever a visitor clicks on the ads. Some ads pay a penny per click; others pay up to
$5 or more per click. You can check your built-up revenue by logging into your account at AdSense. Is AdSense right for your site? From website publishers like About.com to blog gurus, many website owners are finding AdSense makes their online presence affordable and profitable.

Copyright 2005 Riki Trafford. All rights reserved.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Riki Trafford is the owner of
Direct MO Marketing which offers low cost keyword-targetted web traffic.
For comments and questions visit his web site:
http://www.1dmom.com/

Riki Trafford



Google AdSense - Website Revenue Building Tool

Paying for a website is often the main stumbling block between owning and running a successful website and remaining offline. The way around this problem for many website owners is to save space on their website for advertising. Advertising such as with Google AdSense is a convenient way to find quality advertisers and also attract necessary traffic to your site. The trick is making Google AdSense profitable for your website is to pick the right advertisers and to draw the right kind of traffic.

Google AdSense is a large collection of advertisements made from Google Adword. Over 150,000 advertisers go this route in the hopes qualified website owners choose their ad and place it in their site. In a way, AdSense is an agency that suggests which Adword ads are best suited for your website.
Rather than approaching advertising placements like in a magazine, advertisers don't need to be convinced to advertise in your available space. Instead, Google AdSense reviews your site and suggests relevant ads. As long as you're happy with the suggestions, you select these ads and place them in your site at no cost to you. If a close competitor's ad is suggested, you aren't obligated to run it in your site.

Now the question is how do you maximize the appearance of your site to qualify for the best ads? When AdSense scans your site, it's looking for certain criteria. For the most part, Google is searching for well-constructed, expert "content" and a low number of broken links and "under construction" pages. It's not easy to pinpoint what AdSense Mediabot is precisely looking for in content since the
criteria changes frequently. The safest way to establish
high quality content is to use lots of relevant phrases and keywords. To see the latest guidelines go to https://www.google.com/adsense/policies. Typically, all "questionable" material like profane language or sexual content is rejected. Additionally, Google Adword adverts may not be displayed on directory sites.

You can increase the odds of getting the best Adword ads by using content that's highly relevant to the highest paying Adword ads. By working on your content, you create a win-win situation. In other words, if you offer relevant content, most visitors will be drawn to your site through search engines and then visitors are more motivated to follow up by clicking on these ads. Furthermore, a higher proportion of visitors will return to your site since they
view you as an expert on the topic. Lots of sites offer
free content that pertain to your site's content that you can include as a page in your site. Some of these locations are AABusiness.com and AAGeneral.com. However, if you can provide it, original content is far better. Once AdSense Mediabot approves your site, you select from ad styles and paste an AdSense code into your web page. The styles of Adword ads that traditionally get the best clicks are "skyscraper" and "leader board" style ads. While some Internet experts feel this approach to content and advertising is compromising integrity, many advertisers and website publishers see this approach as increasing the ability for visitors to get what they're looking for.

Revenue starts to build for the website every time a visitor clicks on the ad. Some click-throughs pay a penny and others pay as much as $5 a click. You can check your revenue by going to your AdSense account online. Is AdSense that profitable? Just check out who's using it, such as big website publishers (About.com) and blogging experts. The appeal of Google AdSense is equally attractive to many kinds of sites and makes your presence online all that more affordable.

Copyright 2005 Riki Trafford. All rights reserved.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Riki Trafford is the webmaster of Direct MO Marketing Inc which offers low cost, highly-targeted, keyword-focussed web-site visitors. Why not exchange links with 1dmom.com?
We'd love to add your link to our traffic directory.
Just follow the instructions on this page:
http://www.1dmom.com/links/

Riki Trafford




Article:

7 Ways to Think About Lead Generation For Your Web-site

Your target visitors are waiting to tell you how much they enjoy your product and service. Are you out there acknowledging their loyalty?

Search engines and advertising campaigns are lead generators that are arranged so as to hand over important visitor information that can help your revenue. A well set-up lead generator sits outside your website in other locations that are relevant to your site and hands over your location when a visitor requests to know more about you. This arrangement increases the possibility that the visitor is highly interested in what you have to offer. Don't go wasting your time on advertisements like banners and pop-ups in locations that have nothing in common with your website material.
This only wastes your visitor's time and yours. Also, once those visitors arrive at your location, they won't add anything to your bottom line.

Lead generation is meant to draw in interested visitors to your site and motivate the visitor to perform a desired action. Below are more lead generating ways to accomplish this goal:

- Think original.
Uniqueness does matter. Why attract visitors that have been to similar sites before yours? You want leads that are uniquely tailored to match what you offer. Along this line, don't keep dated material that no longer holds relevancy to these visitors or other leads.

- Map out a strategy.
Why plan to attract leisurely sightseers in your traffic?
Big traffic doesn't matter if only 1% of 20,000 visitors in a day (200 visitors) end up purchasing when you would do better attracting 2000 visitors where 20% purchase (400).
Capturing target visitors is important. These visitors feel special instead of a number and are more motivated to purchase and become a returning customer.

- Aim for creativity.
Fresh material always does better than stale stuff. Take some direct mail campaign advice: give away the old stuff or toss it out. Then, insert fresh, attractive material.
When you do give away the older material, offer it to new markets that would be interested in getting to know you better.

- Map out e-newsletter, e-book, etc.
Readers are highly attracted to content that makes a difference to them. This attraction lures them closer in your direction with a desire to know more. The more relevant your material to them, the more likely they will come back time and again.

- Map out generosity.
Full price for a new service or product is sometimes a big turn-off at the very beginning. Until your lead list is built, give away discounts on subscriptions or a limited-time free service. Also, sweepstakes and contests will build leads. Find out gift limitations based on state laws before doing so.

- Map out plans to repeat your requests.
Loyal customers are OK with requests from you for leads.
Considering how leads keep your campaign expenses down, loyal customers will offer leads if they get something in return like discounts or low prices.

Most importantly think loyalty. When it comes to generating leads that make a difference, your reputation will build as you increase ways to make your visitors feel that what you
have to offer is pertinent. You can do hundreds of
campaigns that will bring thousands of visitors. But, if you don't treat that lead with the dignity they deserve, soon all your efforts will turn sour and they'll quickly go elsewhere.

Copyright 2005 Riki Trafford. All rights reserved.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Riki Trafford is the owner and operator of Direct MO Marketing
which offers low cost keyword-targetted web traffic.
For comments and questions visit his web site:
http://www.1dmom.com/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Riki Trafford


Online PR Tools That Increase Business

PR is good for business, especially good PR! Everyone knows that. Is this true for PR online? Very much so true, especially when a website uses appropriate PR for its attentive audience.

By it very nature, a website is in many ways a PR campaign; it spreads the word about your products and services and quickly puts this news before visitors. Some experts claim that the potential of online PR is better than many conventional routes. When you stop to think about it, there is no good reason to go online unless your presence increases your visibility and gets you noticed in a positive manner that increases your revenue.

Attracting positive attention is easy through many online PR tools. A few ways that your can get your messages across to a wide market is by using some of the below tools:

1. Blogs and Newsgroups.
You can position yourself as a guru or expert in forums that encourage worthwhile discussions on topics related to your
business. Visitors will anticipate all the latest news
from their source - you.

2. Organizations and Yellow Pages.
Join related organizations and other groups that list its members for the public's knowledge. This shows you hold legitimate capabilities and integrity. Also, get your business lists on Yellow Pages and other directories.
Whenever possible, list more that just your business name, website, and so on; Include key phrases and words that speak volumes about your specialty. Some places to start listing your business are PRWeb.com and Yearbook.com.

3. Press releases and special features.
Inside relevant online publications, submit press releases with special angles about your website product or service.
As you build relationships with these online publications, submit monthly features about your area of expertise.
Always include your website somewhere in the press release or at the end of the article so readers can follow up or get more information with you. If this seems too time consuming, online PR firms and services sometimes offer, for a fee, to submit your press releases to as many as 50 related media sources for you.

4. Newsletters and E-zines.
You can spread your own PR via your own e-zines, requiring visitors to subscribe before receiving relevant information about your industry, services or products. By offering short course material in the e-zines, your visitors can experience first-hand your knowledge and start building a relationship with you.

The ultimate reason for using PR tools is to gain more business. If the PR campaign only takes up your time or doesn't end up drawing in more business, then you should either scrap it or revamp it. While many PR efforts aren't always measurable dollar-wise, such as reinforcing existing relationship or improving image, PR efforts online should clearly aim to get a monetary result.

A few other PR pointers to bear in mind when mapping out an online PR campaign are:

- Since the Internet is seen globally, use extremely clear communication.
- Only immediate information is considered newsworthy.
- Keep download time to a minimum and feedback professional since visitors expect this level of interaction.
- Even though Internet PR costs aren't as high as PR in print, the time involved to create great Internet PR will be just as consuming.


Copyright 2005 Riki Trafford. All rights reserved.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Riki Trafford is the webmaster of Direct MO Marketing Inc which offers low cost, highly-targeted, keyword-focussed web-site visitors. 1dmom.com has a free newsletter:
- DMOM Traffic News. Signup at http://www.1dmom.com/ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Riki Trafford




Infusing The AIDA Technique Into Your Sales Letter

To see the biggest impact in a promotion, marketers refer to a four-step strategy called AIDA. Do you see your promotions pulling their weight? The starting point for every campaign should begin with reviewing AIDA's four steps or else your campaign is destined to fall short each time.
The best guarantee that your campaign will succeed and pull in the profits you anticipate is by using this approach that motivates your prospects and moves them to purchase.

AIDA is an acronym that means Attention, Interest, Desire and Action. The more you use this marketing strategy in your sales writing the easier it becomes for you to keep your prospects a captive audience.

All campaigns that involve a sales letter should begin with the intention to use AIDA in its style. When AIDA is followed closely, your results can reach their full potential and your audience will be practically knocking on your door to complete a sale.

The best way to get the best results from a campaign, according to marketers, is to break up the campaign into steps that are suited to your audience's buying behavior.
For example, would you expect a person to buy a sports car after the first time he's asked? The likelihood is slim since every sale must start at some level and progress to another level. Also, would you greet your prospect with "Hi! Let me show you the checkout counter so you can get this great item!"? Odds are you aren't going to get good results with this type of approach.

Since you do have only a matter of seconds to capture your reader's attention, you should start out with a high impact Attention. Below are suggestions of ways to grab a reader's attention quickly:

- Mention a mutual goal.
- Make a promise.
- Pose an important question.
- State a fantastic deal.

Your next move in the sales letter is to smoothly let the reader find out about information that directly interests him. For example, if you offer a deal, let the reader know why this deal is good for him. Use descriptions or details.
Or, if the promise (or solution) can alleviate some problem, let the reader know the consequences of not addressing the solution. Fear and greed are two interest grabbers that many readers want resolved by the time you reach the end of the letter.

Evoking a desire is another important element that should be in a sales letter. A reader is left with a feeling or desire to carry out some action after reading about something that has caught her interest. By seizing this moment, you can quickly move a reader toward performing an action.

The action portion of a sales letter involves letting the reader know what he can do to obtain what piques his interest. This is where you can ask the reader to respond.
A response doesn't always entail a purchase - not yet at least. Some responses involve:

- Signing up for a short course
- Receiving a free report
- Requesting a quote
- Asking for specifications
- Planning a one-on-one visit

A sales letter is mainly getting your foot in the door. So, treat an AIDA letter as a first step in a campaign. The closing of a sale may take up to seven contacts. So, why not let your first contact make the best impression and move the reader to respond.


Copyright 2005 Riki Trafford. All rights reserved.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Riki Trafford makes it easy for you to find low cost, keyword-targeted, pre-qualified visitors for your web-site.
For more information, visit http://www.1dmom.com/

Riki Trafford



Prove It! The Power of Testimonials

Don't be shy - soak up the praise! When you let others toot your horn for you, you not only raise your credibility but you also build a deeper level of trust with your visitors.
While its okay to tell visitors that you are credible, these statements are much stronger coming from a testimonial.
Before many visitors will purchase, they expect this level of trust.

Which would you rather hear - "I'm great!" or "This business provided such great service that I would return to time and time again!"? Just like a reference in a resume, a testimonial offers credibility. Many marketers say that a C should be added to the AIDA formula, whereby the C stands for credibility. And, credibility is built with testimonials.

Testimonials place oomph in a website and can move a visitor from a sightseer into a valuable customer. When a website errs and leaves out testimonials, the website is misses an opportunity to capitalize on the power of these tributes.
Some tips on how to get high quality testimonials are below:

1. Write to your customers for a testimonial. "If you build it, they will come" is a way to build testimonials.
Many customers are eager to write about their positive experiences if you just ask them first.

2. The best testimonials are positive. If a client mails you a positive comment, ask that customer to elaborate on the comment along with permission to use it as a testimonial. Lots of customers consider this a compliment.
Always get the customer's permission on a "release letter"
form before you use any testimonial. A sample release letter can be found at www.marketingtoday.com/marcom/testi2.com.

3. For every freely offered testimonial, give a deal or reward in return. Send out notices about your testimonial campaign and spell out rewards, donation or monetary, or money off future purchases. State laws vary on gift donation amount, so check the limits ahead of time.

Many testimonial campaigns can be done directly from your website, direct e-mails, or in the mail.

Use these testimonials generously throughout your website.
Don't limit the testimonials to one page! Testimonials have the best effect when interspersed throughout the website and strategically placed on pages that directly pertain to that testimonial. Many testimonials work well in the left or right margins, along side articles or product descriptions.
Also, inserting testimonials into content such as course material is very effective.

Testimonials don't work on everyone. If your audience holds certain high power jobs like an executive or other "pioneers", testimonials will not move them to make a decision. However, an audience with "emulators" will definitely want to read many testimonials, especially statements that reflect their beliefs or wants.

The most believable testimonials come from a real person and uses real conversion language. A long testimonial is more believable than a short testimonial. Below are tips for selecting believable testimonials:

- Place the testimonial in quotation marks and include the entire name of the person who supplied the testimonial, along with their title.
For example, "A.R. from Arkansas" sounds made up compared to "Arthur Rock, President of Sales/Marketing, XYZ Corporation, Little Rock, AR".

- Pick a testimonial that contains lots of details.

- Pick positive and real testimonials that make you stop and say, "I want that to happen for me too".

Relying on testimonials to sell your service or product is a mistake. Instead, use testimonials as a tool to position your service or product in a manner that further supports the reader's decision to do business with you

Riki Trafford

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10 Tips For Writing Effective Google Adwords

For someone green to Google Adwords, a Google ad is seen on Google Result pages as a sponsored ad along the right-hand portion of the page or in the top two listing spots. These ads are chalk full of keywords that match a person's search words. Google charges a fee of a nickel to several dollars to the advertiser every time a visitor clicks within the ad.

In Adwords, you are permitted one line for the headline, not to exceed twenty-five characters, and two lines for copy, not to exceed thirty-five characters. That is all! This takes into account spaces that count as a character. To many, short means simple, correct? No true! A writer will tell you that it's much harder to write short content compared to wordier, long content. In short content, every word must make a strong impact. This compact writing will create better search and traffic results.

Google AdWords leaves little room for waste. The best-composed, compact AdWords are approved quicker and result in a high click-through rate with visitors who feel compelled to respond. All that from just 3 lines of roughly 70 characters!

Moving a reader to perform an action is the main intent of
a tightly written Adwords. Pay close attention to picking
optimized keywords and phrases for your Adwords that you know will work in a fashion that brings results.

Engineering an effective Google Adwords isn't going to happen overnight, so below are some useful tips:

1. The inverted triangle approach to writing will help you brainstorm material. Start with the most important points and use copy and language that hold meaning for your target audience. Then, trim your material using the following tips.

2. Move a visitor to perform a click by using attention-grabbers, power words and listing benefits. Get these ideas by brainstorming into two column where the first column is for listing features and the second is for listing the benefits of these features.

3. Attention-grabbers must be true. Does the claim make you raise your eyebrows? Don't use "free" if there's a catch. Google has guidelines you must comply with (https://adwords.google.com/select/guidelines.html).

4. Don't skirt around what your customers want. The power of the Internet allows your customers to look for you and they want something specific. Announce loud and clear that you're there by using a headline that's precise.

5. Split-test the power of keywords on Google Search results. Also, test your versions and make changes to ads that perform poorly. A one-word change can pick up your click-through ratio immensely. Very poorly performing ads will be dropped by Google.

6. Use [square brackets] around keywords and even try a dynamic headline. When a search result matches your keyword exactly, Google bolds the matching keywords in your ad. You can also program your headline to customize and match the search, as long as the dynamic headline doesn't use misspelled words. For example, {KeyWord: Writing Tight AdWords}. You must use the brackets and "KeyWord:" in the programming.

7.~Cut out unnecessary words like a, an, in, on, it, of, etc.

8. Right away say what makes you better than the competition or unique. Do you offer specials? If so, include that.

9. List prices or discounts at the end to keep away those who only want everything for nothing.

10. Emotion, energy and response come from power words and call-to-action. Use only words and statements that match your product or service. Sample power words include discover, these, and enhance.

Tight writing comes from identifying exactly what you want your customer to do with the information you provide. Not only will your click-through rate improve but also your self-monitored conversion ratio should improve when you make AdWords work in your favor.


Copyright 2005 Riki Trafford. All rights reserved.
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Riki Trafford is the manager and developer of Direct MO Marketing Inc which offers low cost highly-targetted, keyword-focussed web traffic. 1dmom.com also accepts article submissions on traffic, marketing, and business topics. Get your article archived on the Internet with your resources box, here:
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